


Rumor has it

by nishiki



Series: Thistle and Weeds [5]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Actors, Allison tries to be a good sister, Drug Addiction, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Girls' Night, Hollywood, Sibling Bonding, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 03:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18358106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: On the night before her wedding, Klaus arrives at Allison's doorstep.





	Rumor has it

**April 2012**

Bridezilla she was not. She had only once played one in one of her first bigger movies after coming to Hollywood a couple of years ago. The poster of that same movie still hung framed in her living room right above the sofa. Patrick thought that this was weird especially because it had been one of the worst movies she had ever starred in. If questioned, she would say that this was because it was the movie where she had met him and no more questions would be asked from then on.

The truth was, Patrick was just a big old softie.

Anyway, although Allison Hargreeves prided herself on not being a bridezilla, she was tempted to throw her tea mug at the wall in her kitchen as the doorbell rang at around 8 PM the night before her wedding. A visitor was the last thing she needed now to stress her out even more.

She was tempted to just ignore it but the bell rang again and she had a feeling that this visitor wouldn't give up so easily. Call it a hunch. With a soft groan, she walked from her kitchen to the front door just as the doorbell rang for a third time, leaving behind her steaming mug on the counter. Of course, it occurred to her that she might get herself in danger when opening the door. She was alone, after all, and who knew who was on the other side of that door. However, after a small glance through the peephole, she let out a small screech and ripped the door open. Her tea was now all but forgotten.

»Klaus!« The name tumbled over her lips in excitement. She had last seen him almost a lifetime ago. »Jesus Christ!« She added as she leaped forward to envelop him in a hug. »Oh God! How long has it been?«

»Six years or so?«

Klaus offered with a  cocky smile as Allison pushed him at arm's lengths again to take him in completely. He didn't look good. He was even thinner than she last remembered him to be. His clothes were eccentric. to say the least. but not in a bad way. Klaus could wear almost anything and make it look like high fashion. She had always envied him for that even when they had been kids. He was wearing a pair of leather pants that sat tightly on his body and hugged his narrow hips, his grey shirt looked as if it was too short and revealed just a bit of his flat stomach and his sharply protruding hip bones. Klaus had always been happy to show off his body. His denim jacket was in dire need of a wash and he needed a new pair of converse shoes.

He had dark rings under his eyes, his skin sickly pale and his lips brittle. He didn't smell too nicely either, his hair a tangled mess on his head and his eyes wild. She could tell that he was high and though disappointed, she wasn't surprised. This was Klaus, after all. He hadn't been sober since he discovered that alcohol could silence the ghosts.

»What are you doing here?«

Klaus gave his sweetest smile, cocked his head to the side and put his hands under his chin in a way she knew all too well by now. »I want your autograph for my collection, Baby!« He beamed and she huffed with a small roll of her eyes. »Well, I was in the neighborhood and thought: Why don't I visit my favorite famous sister for a girls night out  in town?«

»I'm not going out tonight, Klaus. I’m gonna get married tomorrow.«

»I know!« Klaus grinned. »Congratulations by the way!«

»Klaus … Really … I need this night to myself, okay? Sorry, maybe another time? I was excited all day to get my wellness program going before the big day.« It was stupid and she felt stupid saying that. She had last seen her favorite trainwreck six years ago and instead of inviting him in immediately and ask him what he had been up to, she tried to find excuses to get rid of him right away. Yet, she was happy to see him again. Or rather to see that he was still alive, to be more precise. Every time she had thought about her family in the past six years, she had wondered if Klaus had already died in some alleyway or on the floor of a dirty bathroom stall with a needle in his arm.

»Even better! Klaus clapped and shoved past her before she could do anything to stop him. With a sigh, she closed the door before any paparazzi would spot them at the door and take pictures. The last thing she needed would be the media finding out about her junkie brother being with her. She loved Klaus but he wasn't good for her reputation. »It's been ages since I had a nice relaxing night! So, I vote for - drumroll please« He drummed his thin long fingers on the counter of a small table she had in her foyer to underline his words with the same flourish as she remembered. »Mud masks, a nice hot bath, mani and pedi, and stupid movies while binging on ice cream?«

»You know what?« Allison sighed with a fond smile playing on her face at his antics. It was impossible not to smile around Klaus. »Sometimes you are my favorite sister too, Klaus.« If there was anyone in this family who would manage to get her mind off of the stress of getting married the next day, it would be Klaus. »But don't tell Vanya.«

The benefit of being a Hollywood star was that she had money and the benefit of money was that she had a big house with multiple bathrooms. So, while Klaus could take a long hot bubble bath in one bathroom, Allison could do the very same in her master bathroom. While she lay in the water or got out and dressed in her favorite pajama, she tried not to imagine what Klaus might be doing behind closed doors. Klaus had started throwing his life away a long time ago and she knew that, no matter what she would say to him, she wasn't going to stop him and reconsider his life choices. Klaus always did what he wanted to do and he got what he wanted to get. As long as she wouldn't need to see him shooting up or snorting whatever he was getting high on, she could pretend as if it wasn't a problem or as if her brother didn't look like a one dollar hooker.

She wasn't naive. It was easy to tell how Klaus got the money to afford his habit. She had always known that he was headed in this direction and perhaps she felt a little guilty for letting him. As they later sat together in front of her giant TV, painting their toenails, it felt warm and comfortable and familiar like an old blanket to have Klaus with her again. Klaus, with whom she had practiced how to use makeup when they were teens. Klaus who came by her room ever so often to have her paint his nails or try on different clothes. All of this had happened in secret, of course. Their father couldn't know about that kind of stuff.

While Klaus was painting his own toenails black, she was going for dark red instead. Not that anyone would see it under her long wedding dress anyway but Patrick liked that color on her. »So you need to show me your dress, of course.« Klaus grinned as he put the bottle to the side after finishing up with his toes and wiggled them playfully.

»Only if you promise me not to spill anything on it.« She teased mockingly, remembering how Klaus had once spilled his hot chocolate all over Allison’s fanciest dress when they were younger. Klaus huffed a laugh.

»Pinky promise!« Klaus smiled and leaned his head on her shoulder. »I am so proud of you, Allie. At least one of us to make a proper living for themselves. I can't wait to see you on your big day, Sis! I am going to cry so goddamn much!«

She should have expected that Klaus would want to come to her wedding. Yet, the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She hadn't invited any of her family. She had thought about it, of course, but in the end, she had decided against it. She had mulled it over and over in her head to invite Luther or Vanya, maybe even Diego and definitely not her father. Inviting Klaus without a hint of where he was living had been not an option, of course.

However, every time she had started scribbling the names of her family members on the envelopes, she had thrown them away again and again. She was done with the Umbrella Academy. Out here in the real world, only a handful of people knew who Allison Hargreeves really was, including her fiance. Of course, the academy was famous, but Allison didn't want it to define her life. She was no longer _the Rumor_ anymore. She was just Allison Hargreeves and Allison Hargreeves was an actress who was about to get married.

Maybe it was a little mean that she had told Patrick that she didn't want her family to ruin her wedding or get involved in her life in any way. Diego would probably start a fight about something minor anyway, Vanya would be too timid to actually come and Luther … Inviting Luther to her wedding just seemed wrong.

Klaus was here now and he probably expected her to say that he needed to come to her wedding but the thought filled her with dread. The media would cover the event. She couldn't be seen with her junkie brother. Patrick wouldn't be a fan of the idea as well. Until now, he had not met one of her siblings and she rather kept it that way. Hell, if anything, Klaus would be the last one of her siblings she would want Patrick to meet.

»Klaus…« He would get drunk or high or both and cause a scene. He had always been the life of the party, yes, but in the circles Allison was now a part of, he would only make a fool of himself and embarrass her. She couldn't have that. She was one of Hollywood’s sweethearts, her reputation spotless and she wanted it to stay this way too. Klaus, however, would be one giant stain on her white vest.

As if he would already know what she was about to say but couldn't force herself to say, Klaus cringed inwardly and tried to play it down. »Oh … No, that was just a joke. I mean, come on, of course, you wouldn't want me to come and mess everything up, right?«

»Klaus, that's not what I … Listen, I just … I am done with the Academy, you know? Done with all this bullshit and I am glad that I have no ties to this place anymore. I have redefined myself, reinvented myself and I am happy here.« She had not only cut ties to the place, but she had also cut ties with her siblings and with Reginald and Pogo and Grace. She had reinvented herself without them, alone and free.

»Oh, don't worry, I get it, really.« He seemed nervous all of the sudden, fidgety even and his eyes darted back and forth from her face to a corner of the room as if he was seeing something she couldn't see. ah, yes, crazy Klaus. »I mean … I cut all ties to the family as well, I guess when I ran away so … I shouldn't have intruded like this.« He got to his feet at once. »I shouldn't have come here and expected you to welcome me into your life after I ditched all of you, right? After all, I was the first to leave, right? Well, no Five was but that doesn't count and Ben … Well, Ben says dying doesn’t count either.«

»Klaus…« She muttered as she reached for his hand to stop him from rambling or running off. He looked so lost the way he was scratching at his neck with his free hand. Where would he go when she would allow him to leave in the middle of the night? Would he end up sleeping on the streets again? Would he end up in a motel room with some John and a needle in his arm? He was still her brother. He was still the same brother who had wrapped his arms around her and tried to console her after getting that tattoo on her arm, who had wiped away his own tears to be the rock she had needed that day.

»I would be honored if you would come to my wedding tomorrow.« She finally gave him a weak smile and they both knew that it was bullshit. And yet, Klaus decided to play along. It was starting to get late and Allison wanted to be rested for the next day.

»So … How about I call a friend of mine to bring over a couple of suits in your size tomorrow and then we go to sleep.«

Klaus gave a hesitant little nod and forced a smile on his face that neither one of them bought. It was all a show and Allison and Klaus were the showmen of this family. They were the actors. They could bullshit a lot of people but never each other and yet they acted as if they could. When they went to bed around midnight, Klaus safely tucked into her guest bedroom, Allison knew that he would be gone the next morning.

Klaus could be outrageous, he could be a raving lunatic, he could be flamboyant and wild but he knew which lines not to cross and he knew how important the next day was for his sister. He knew that she didn't want him there and so he wouldn't force her to throw him out or hurt his feelings. That was just Klaus. Good old, empathetic, caring, gentle Klaus.

Even though she had known that she would find his room empty the next morning, she felt sadness creeping up on her as she stood in the doorway of the guest bedroom staring at the unmade bed. Klaus had left her with a sketch on a piece of paper he had found somewhere, lying on his pillow. A sketch of Allison in a superhero outfit and a veil over her face, flowers in her hands. She felt tears pricking at her eyes and decided to keep the little drawing save at all times as the doorbell rung to announce her entourage for the day.

The April sun was already strong as she later found herself in front of the church, ready to march in after waving to the paparazzi that were all around the place, hovering like vultures around a corpse. She had come to love and hate them at the same time. Patrick was already inside and her bridesmaids ready to lead the march as if marching into war.

She had never been more nervous and yet this was just another role, right? She was playing the part of the bride. She was playing the part of the normal girl who was marrying a nice handsome man, leading a normal happy life in Hollywood. She was the picture perfect woman with the picture-perfect life. It was all an act and never had this been clearer to her than as she was about to enter the church.

There was only a moment of hesitation then, a cold gust of air ghosting over the back of her neck that made her turn her had only shortly. On the other side of the street, tucked away safely into the shadow of a street corner, she could see a lanky figure leaning at the wall. The figure gave a small wave and she could barely see the ‘goodbye’ that was tattooed into their skin. She waved back with a heavy heart and then she turned around, brushed off her doubts and sadness, stepped into the church and perfected her role as Allison Hargreeves, Hollywood’s favorite sweetheart.


End file.
